Em Gessen

But he says it was just out of concern for Elle and her well-being.

Priscilla had been back in Zimbabwe for only four months, and she had already been beaten up, evicted, forced out of business, arrested, and arrested again.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, that's after the break.

It was 2020, and Alan had filed for full custody of O. The case was stalled because of COVID.

Priscilla's American lawyer had filed her case under the Hague Convention, but this too was on hold now.

They both waited, Priscilla and Zabave, temporarily relieved from her nightmare sequence of struggles, and Alan in Massachusetts, perhaps frustrated by being unable to pursue his custody claims.

In the meantime, he was working on some sort of scheme to bring a shipload of PPE to the United States.

Remember there were shortages of masks and other protective equipment?

The scheme didn't work out.

During the first year or so of the pandemic, all of us spent more time on Cape Cod.

My baby brothers attending college remotely, me and my kids, and Alan and Nana and O visiting frequently.

My dad got an oyster license.

O became an oyster enthusiast.

We all got closer.

The rest of the world receded.

In the summer of 2021, Priscilla got word that her Hague petition was finally scheduled for a hearing in the U.S.

District Court in Boston.

Priscilla's lawyer arranged for a visa and raised the money to get Priscilla to the U.S.

It had been two years since Alan took O from Russia.

So when was your court date?